The Emperor’s Journey to the Moon

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The year:
712 C.E. The place: the great Chang’an, meaning “eternal peace.” This is the
capital city of the Tang Dynasty, the most glorious and prosperous of all dynasties
throughout China’s 5,000 years. It is time for the reign of a new “Son of
Heaven”—Emperor Tang Xuanzong.

Xuanzong
was not the eldest son of Emperor Ruizong, but he was the most talented. And
so, with unrest brewing in the imperial palace, he was chosen to succeed and
took the throne at 27 years old.

He
enjoyed studying the Tao, or the Way of the universe. Xuanzong often invited
well-known Taoist masters to his palace, and became friends with one of the “Eight
Taoist Immortals,” Master Zhang Guolao, famous for riding his donkey backward.
The Taoist tradition is replete with feats of magic, and accomplished practitioners
would sometimes casually demonstrate their abilities for the emperor. And then,
one day, it happened.

It was
in that first year of Xuanzong’s reign that a Taoist master invited him to go
on an unusual excursion—a journey to the Moon Palace. The old Taoist tossed his
staff into the sky, where it morphed into a gigantic silver bridge stretching up
toward the heavens, disappearing in the direction of Earth’s satellite. The
Taoist and the emperor stepped onto the bridge and left the planet.

They ascended
for some time before being dazzled by a great luminescence before them. Approaching
the moon, they found themselves in front of the gate of a grand city. This,
explained the Taoist, was the Moon Palace.

In the
Moon Palace, beautiful heavenly maidens danced. Some were riding magical white
birds while others were playing musical instruments and dancing in a spacious
court surrounded by evergreens.

“What is
that costume they are wearing?” Xuanzong asked the old Taoist.

“That is
called ‘Rainbow Skirts, Feather Coats’,” the Taoist replied. “They are playing
a tune called ‘Purple Cloud Melody’.”

Xuanzong
fastened the melody in his memory. Soon their brief visit was over, and the old
Taoist and Xuanzong descended back to Earth, to the courtyard of the imperial
palace in the capital city of Chang’an. There, in the still night illumed by
the moon’s beaming gaze, Xuanzong could almost hear the tune of the maidens’
dance. He immediately wrote down the music and the dance.

To this
day, "Rainbow Skirts, Feather Coats" continues to be performed, here
on Earth. Perhaps, some day, the celestial ladies of the Moon Palace will come
down to grace us with a visit.

The 2013
Shen Yun dance, The Emperor Journeys to
the Moon was inspired by this story.

Interact with Shen Yun:

Shen Yun Performing Arts is the world's premier classical Chinese dance and music company, established in New York in 2006. It performs classical Chinese dance, ethnic and folk dance, and story-based dance, with orchestral accompaniment and solo performers.
For 5,000 years, divine culture flourished in the land of China. Through breathtaking music and dance, Shen Yun is reviving this glorious culture. Shen Yun, or 神韻, can be translated as: “The beauty of divine beings dancing.”

Following the lead taken by some media and other organizations, we are now also referring to the coronavirus as "the CCP virus," as it is the Chinese Communist Party's mismanagement and cover-up that has led to the global pandemic.